Water-tube boiler



Sept. 21 1926. 1,600,617

5. H. BARNUM ET AL- WATER TUBE BOILER Filed August 4, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 21, 1926.

. 1,600,617 5. H. BARNUM ET- AL WATER TUBE BOILER 7 Filed August 4, 1 22 s Sheets-Sheet 2 v W H M ,33

' =,s i T I -l go o 03 7 0 o i \l o o I o/ l l l/ oo o '0 0 I r I L 34 8 I :IO 0 0 l I on I Sept. 21 1926. 1,600,617

S. H. -BARNUM .ET AL WATER TUBE BOILER Filed August 4, 1922 5 Shets-Sheet 5 Patented Sept. 21, 1926.

warren STATES PATENT H. BARNUM, OF NET/V HAVEN, AND TOWNSEND H. OF \VEES'T HARTFSRD,

STARR reins.

CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNORS TO, THE BIGELOVI COMPANY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNEC- TICUT.

HATER-TUBE BOILER.

Our invention relates to steam boilers and more part'cularly to those wherein provision is made for pie-heating the feed water prior to its introduction into the boiler proper by means of heat extracted from the hot gases after they have passed through the main portion of the boiler.

\Vhile we have shown and will describe our invention as applied to a water-tube boiler wherein headers in the form of drums are interconnected by a series of parallel tubes to form boiler units, it will be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to an installation of this type but certain features thereof may be advantageously employed in other types of boilers as well.

It will be recognized that if the feed water delivered to the boiler is pre-heated to some extent by heat extracted from the gases after they have passed through the boiler proper, which heat would otherwise be lost, the elliciency of the installation will be greatly increased and purification of the feed water prior to its entry into the boiler will be ellected. In addition the temperature stresses in the units will be lessened as also will water hammer effects.

One objectof our invention, therefore, is to provide a water-tube boiler embodying an improved arrangement or combination of parts for heating the feed water prior to its delivery to the main part of the boiler by neans or" heat absorbed from the escaping gases in such a manner that av maximum amount of heat will be absorbed by the entering feed water from such gases.

Still another object of the invention is to so provide for the distribution of gases by a proper arrangement of baiiling that the amount of resistance to the passage of the gases, or draft loss, will be reduced to a minimum.

)ur invention further resides in the provision of improved connections between the economizer and boiler proper and in other features inherent in the structure and combination of partsto be hereinafter describeda Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3--3 of Fig. 1; i

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view onlined-lofFigB; I v

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevational view simi l-ar to 1 showing a modified'torm ofmay be installed.

The boiler proper consists of one or more front sections or banks and one or more rear sections 11. These sections or banks are each made up of a plurality of units, each of which consists of an upper drum 12 and a lower drum 13 connectedbv a plurality of substantially parallel straight tubes 14. The drums 12 may be termed. the

steam drums, as the generated steam col-v lects therein and passes from them through ducts 15 to the main steam drum l6. lietween the units is provided the bafiiing 17, which causes the hot gases to passdirectly over the pipes l t in thin streams, so that the greatest possible amount of heat will be extracted from the gases passing from the furnace.

A stoker of any preferred type may be used and the boiler maybe arranged to burn any desired type of fuel. In the drawing the stoker is shown more or less diagram matically at 19.

A super-heater may be provided for the steam havin a connection 21 with the main steam drum and a connection 32 with be cleaned.

Rearwardly of the installation which has Just been described is an economizer or preheater in the part B of the boiler setting,

which comprises'a section made up of a plu-.

rality of units which are similar in number and construction to the boiler units preiously described. Each of these units consists of an upper drum 26, and a lower drum 27, the two drums being connected by a nest of straight tubes 29. The lower drums 27 are provided with water connec tions 30 through which the feed water is introduced into the economizer. The upper drums 26 are provided with pipes 31which enter the steam drums of the acent boiler units through the usual water connections 31, the ends of these pipes being disposed in this instance below the level of the water in the latter drums. The feed water after being pro-heated is thus introduced into the upper drums of the rearinost boiler section through the pipes 81. V

The boiler setting 13 is provided with bafiles 32 anc 33, which causes the hot gases escaping from the boiler'to pass over the economizer tubes a plurality of times prior to its delivery to the flue 34, as shown by the arrows in Fig. 1. The sections of the economize-r are also provided with battles 35 by which the hot gases will be prevei'zted from passing between two adjacent tube units but will be caused to flow through the units themselves by which the gases will be broken up into thin streams and the greatest possible amount of heat will be absorbed by the water in the tubes.

It will be obvious that with this construction-the feed water will be introduced to the 'economizer throu h the lower drums 27 i the boiler proper through the tubes 81. The

water also passes to the boiler proper at the point wherethe coolest gases are found and the carrying forward of this idea throughout the boiler causes the water to be heated gradually and in this manner undue temperature stresses are eliminated; Also the baffies 32 and 33, which may he placed about the .economizer section in any desired arrangement or in any suitable number cause the greatest possible amount of heat to be absorbed from the gases prior to the escape thereof through the flue 3a.

The main steam-drum 16 is horizontally arranged at the top of the boiler, and the front units are inclined forwardly and up wardly with their upper drums in front of the main steam-drum, their lower ends being just to the rear of the masonry wall at the rear of the fire-box. The rear units are somewhat shorter than the front ones, and vertically disposed, with tl eir lower drun'is connected with those of the front units and their upper drums located rearwardly of the main steam-drum and connected therewith in the manner previously described. Associated with the nests of tubes forming parts of the front units are the baflles 17 extending throughout the greater part of the length of said nests of tubes and arranged between each nest and the adjacent one transversely of the boiler, as shown in Fig. 3, with similar baffles between the end nests and the adjacent walls of the setting. The result of using these cross bailies is that the gases passing from the fire-box in a generall upward and rearward direction pass directly through the respective nests of tubes substantially throughout their length. In passing through a nest of tubes in the spaces between the individual tubes the gases are divided up into thin streams, which accelerates the heat absorption. The deflection of the gases in passing through the front units is lateral only, and from these sections the gases pass directly in a generally rearward and slightly upward direction to the nests of the rear units, which have similar balfles, extending throughout their length, so that the deflection of the gases is only in a lateral direction, and here the division of the gases into thin streams is repeated. The rearward travel of the gases to a substantial distance beyond the lower portions of the rear units is prevented by the wall 51 which separates the rear units from the economizer units to a certain extent. This wall 51 extends upwardly a distance corresponding to a considerably part'of the length of the tube nests of the rear boiler units and the economizer units between which it is interposed, and provides an exit for the gases issuing from the rear unit nests only at the upper rear part of the boiler. This exit is further restricted by a bafile 52 vertically arranged andextending downwardly from points adjacent the upper drums of the rear boiler units, behind the tube nests, toward but slightly in front of the upper edge of the separating wall 51. The result is that the gases which have passed upwardly and rearwardly over the front and rear sections of the boiler units pass over the upper end of the wall 51 in a confined stream after having passed over the outer surfaces of the tube nests in thin streams over a very large area. As the gases pass over the upper edge of the wall 51 they move rearwardly through the nests of economiaer tubes, in the upper portions of those nests, and then forwardly again through the nests at a somewhat lower elevation, and then rearwardly again through the nests at a still lowerelevation, until eventually the flue is reached. It will be seen, therefore, that in passing in a generally downward direction over the tubes of the economizer nests in. which the water is rising, the gases are confined laterally so as to pass approximately horizontally and rearwardly between the individual tubes of each nest, while being prevented from passing between the adjacent nests, and between the nests at the ends and r the adjacent walls of the setting. At the same time the gases are forced to travel in a generally downward direction by the substantially horizontal battles 32, 33, already explained. This combination of the vertical and horizontal battles assures the passage of all the gases over the eeonomizer tubes and their division into thin streams, with rapid heat transfer, and at the same time it is required that the gases will repeatedly pass forwardly and rearwardly sothat after heating a portion of the nest at a certain elevation they next heat a cooler portion at a lower elevation, and so on. Thus a maximum amount of heat is absorbed, but, at the same time, by thearrangement described, the draft loss is not injuriously increased, because of the length of the open spaces between the tubes and the relatively short path of the gases from the furnace to the stack.

In Fig. of the drawings, a modificati n is shown wherein the rearward extension B of the boiler setting is not separated from the boiler proper and the bafiiing about the economizer is dispensed with, the gases passing directly over the economizer sections in the same manner in which they pass over the sections ofthe boiler proper.

In Fig. 6 of the drawings we have shown a construction wherein the upper drums 40 of the economizer are placed in a relatively low position and the water therefrom may pass into the lower portion of the adjacent drums 12 of the boiler proper below the water level through the pipes 41.

In the modification shown in Fig. 7, the upper drums 42 of the economizers are provided with steam spaces and in this instam-e these drums are provided with a connection as to the steam spaces of the upper drums 12 well a connection 44 which enters these drums below the water level therein.

A further modification is shown in Fig.

8 of the d awings wherein a plurality of economizer sections are shown,.each section of which may be formed similar to the single section described inconnection with the modification shown in Figs. 1 to l. In this instance horizontally disposed bafiies 4-6, 4-7 and 18 may be provided and avert-ical baiiie extends for some distance between the sections, so that thegases will be properly circulated about the pipes prior to their escape from the furnace through the fine 50, which in this instance, may be arranged toward the upper part of the setting. The gases entering the economizer chamber pass above the battle 46 and are deflected downwardly by the battle i9 to pass through the pipes of the first section again and below the bafiie l7. They then pass throughthe lower portion of the pipes of the second section and are deflected by the baffle i8 against boiler at the other end, the'flow of this water through the economizer will be in one general direction, i. e., toward the boiler, Moreover, this advantageous feature will be further aided by the fact that the hot gases first reach the economizer adj acent the end from which the water passes to the boiler and thus the hottest gases from the boiler first reach the hottest water in the economizer. This, of course, also aids in keeping the flow of water through the eeonomizer always in the same direction, and does not tend to create a flow in the opposite direction which would'ca-use circulation in the economizer pipes, and causes the greatest possible amount of heat to be extracted from the hot gases by the water.

It will also be evident that the settling J of any impurities or scum to'the bottom of the economizer willbe facilitated by the fact that there is little or no circulation of the water therein, and as the lower drums of the economizer and the tubes may be read{ ily cleaned, this is another advantageous feature of our improved construction.

\Vhile we have shown and described some forms of our invention, it will be understood that the same is not to be limited to the exact details shown, but is capable of many modifications and variations within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In a water-tube boiler, a horizontal steam-drum, upwardly and forwardly inclinedunits-arranged with their upper ends in front of and in communicationwith said steam-drum, each consisting of upper and lower headers and a nest of tubes connecting said headers, units vertically disposed at the rear of said steam-drum and having their upper ends connected therewith, said rear units each consisting of upper and lower headers and a nest of interconnecting tubes, the lower headers of said front units being connected to those of the rear units, a wall rising at the rear of said rear units and extending throughout a considerable portion of the length of the nests oftubes' of said units but terminating short ofthe level of the upper tube ends of said units, economizer units arranged at the rear of said wall parallel to said rear units, and each consisting of upper and lower, headers and a nest of tubes interconnectlng said headers, means for introducing feed water into the lower headers of said economizer units, means for connecting the upper headers ofsaid economizer units with the upper ends of the adj acent rear units, longitudinally extending battles between the adjacent nests of front and rear units to cause the gases to pass in a generally upward and rearward direction through the different nests substantially throughout their length, said wall confining the egress of said gases so that it takes place adjacent the upper portions of the nests of economizer tubes, battles extending longitudinally between the economizer nests substantially throughout their length so as to restrict the flow of gases to the spaces between the individual tubes of the nests, and means for causing the gases passingthrough the economizer nests in thin streams to take a generally downward course over approximately the entire length of the cconomizer tubes. 7

2. In a water-tube boiler, a horizontal steam-drum, upwardly and forwardly inclined units arranged with their upper ends in front of and in communication with said steam-drum, each consisting of upper and lower headers and a nest of tubes connecting said headers, units vertically disposed at the rear of said steam-drum and having their upper ends connected therewith, said rear units each consisting of upper and lower headers and a nest of interconnecting tubes, the lower headers of said front units being connected to those of the rear units, a wall rising at the rear of said rear units and extending throughout a considerable portion of the length of the nests of tubes of said units but terminating short of the level of the upper tube ends of said units, economizer units at the rear of said wall parallel to said rear units, and each consisting of upper and lower. headers and a nest of tubes interconnecting said headers, means for introducing feed water into the lower headers of said economize]: units, means for connecting the upper headers of said economizer units with the upper ends of the adjacent rear units, the front and rear units of the boiler being provided with longitudinally extending baffles which cause the gases to pass in a generally upward and rearward direction through the different nests with lateral deflection around the tubes, said wall confining the egress of said gases so that it takes place adjacent the upper portions of the nests of economizer tubes, baflies extending longitudinally of the economizer nests so as to restrict the flow of gases to the spaces between the individual tubes of the nests, means for causing the gases passing through the economizer nests in thin streams to. take a generally downward course over approXiunits adjacent the nests of their tubes and at the rear thereof and cooperating with the upper end of said separating wall in confining to a restricted egress space the gases passing to the economizer units,

3. In a water-tube boiler a steam-drum, a plurality of units associated therewith and connected thereto, including vertically disposed units each comprising upper and lower headers and an interconnecting nest of tubes, substantially vertical baffles separating said ests from each other substantially throughout their length so as to provide for the passage of the gases through each nest in a wide stream subdivided by the individual tubes of the nest, a wall at the rear of said units extending throughout a considerable portion of the length of the tubes but terminating short of their upper ends, a plurality of economizer units of similar formation to said'first named units locatedat the rear of said wall and to which the escaping gases flow over the top of said wall, substantially vertical baflles interposed between the nests of economizer tubes substantially throughout their length so as to cause thergases to pass rearwardly through the nests after passing over said wall at the upper portions of said tubes, and substantially horizontal 5 battles for causing the gases passing between 9 the economizer tubes to be deflected downwardly and then forwardly and rearwardly again through said economizer tube nests, means for introducing feed water into the lower headers of said economizer units, and connections between the upper headers of said units and the adjacent boiler units.

a. In a water-tube boiler, an upper steamdrum, a plurality of units associated therewith and connected thereto, including vertically disposed units at the rear of said boiler, each comprising upper and lower headers and an interconnecting nest-of tubes, said nests being of substantially cylindrical shape, substantially vertical baffles interposed between the cylindrical nests of tubes and between the end nests and the setting walls and extending substantially throughout the length of said nests so as to permit the passage of the gases transversely through the nests throughout their length but prevent the gases from passing between the nests, whereby such gases are divided laterally into thin streams by the tubes, a wall rising at the rear of said units so as to allow space between it and the rear nests of'tubes, and extending upwardly along said tubes but terminating short of their upper ends, a plurality of economizer units located at the rear of and spaced from said wall substantially parallel to said other units, and like wise consisting of upper and lower headers and cylindrical nests of interconnecting tubes, substantially vertical baflles interposed between the nests of economizer tubes so as to permit the gases passing over the top of said wall to move through the economizer tube nests but prevent said gases from passing between said nests, with lateral deflection of said gases by the individual economizer tubes, means for introducing feed water into the lower headers of said economizer units, means connecting the upper headers of said economizer units with the upper headers of the rear boiler units, and means for causing the gases passing over the wall and through the economizer tube nests to be deflected downwardly after suchto the space above the top of the wall, economizer units parallel to said boiler units at a the rear of said wall and having upper connections with said units, each of said units comprising upper and lower headers and a nest of interconnecting tubes, said units so disposed that the escaping'gases passing over the wall first strike the upper portions of the tubes of said economizer units, means for supplying feed water to the lower ends of said units, vertical baffles interposed between the respective nests of eoonomizer tubes and extending substantially throughout the length of said economizer tubes so that substantially all the gases are forced to pass through the nests in thin streams, and substantially horizontal bat-lies associated with said economizer units for causing the gases passing through the upper portions of the economizer tube nests to be deflected clownwardly and then forwardly through the nests and then rearwardly again through said nests before reaching the lowermost portions of the economizer tubes.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands on the first day of August, 1922.

STARR H. BARNUM.

TOl/VNSEND. H. SO-REN. 

